The Louisiana Oil and Gas Association staff was in meetings most of Friday, so North Louisiana director Ragan Dickens didn’t immediately know the State Department had released its nervously awaited Keystone XL pipeline environmental impact study.

The announcement was a welcome surprise.

The study raised no major environmental objections to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and declared that approval or denial of the pipeline is unlikely to affect extraction of heavy-carbon Canadian tar sands. The conclusion dismisses some of the concerns expressed by opponents of the controversial pipeline. Dickens was elated.

“Keystone will be huge for Louisiana and enormous for the country,” Dickens said. “The State Department had the final say-so on whether any federal agency had further reason to delay the pipeline. Thus far, President Barack Obama has indicated he would approve it if this final report had no objections and didn’t pose any further hurdles. Keystone will create thousands of jobs for Americans.”

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, and her opponent in this year’s Senate race, U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, both support Keystone. The pipeline, as currently mapped, does not run through Louisiana, but it cuts through Oklahoma to get to Texas. But Landrieu has maintained it will be a blessing to Louisiana refineries, subcontractors and construction workers.

“More importantly, Louisiana’s refineries are uniquely able to refine this type of heavy crude that will come from this pipeline. The pipeline is good for the country and great for Louisiana, which is why Sen. Landrieu has been a proponent of the project for years.”

Environmentalists object that the 1,700-mile pipeline would have a devastating impact on the environment and have pressured Obama to reject it.

The release of the review triggers a 90-day federal process for determining if the project is in the nation's interest. The ultimate decision isn't expected until late spring.